Making Tax Digital · Roofers
Making Tax Digital for roofers: do you need it?
170 days until it starts for sole traders over £30,000
Checked against GOV.UK, 14 October 2026.
The short answer for roofers
A self-employed roofer is over £30,000 of turnover on two or three re-roofs, because the tiles, the membrane and the scaffold are in the price. Over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 means Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027, and the storm repairs paid in cash count too.
The thresholds, from GOV.UK (26 March 2026): over £50,000 for 2024 to 2025 started on 6 April 2026, over £30,000 for 2025 to 2026 starts on 6 April 2027, over £20,000 for 2026 to 2027 starts on 6 April 2028. All counted as turnover, before expenses.
The figure HMRC checks
HMRC checks your qualifying income: everything that came in from self-employment and property, before expenses. GOV.UK calls it turnover. Wages from a PAYE job don't count.
The figure is what you invoiced, not what landed in the bank. GOV.UK says the deductions a contractor takes count as advance payments towards your tax and National Insurance bill, and qualifying income is counted before expenses, so the 20% that came off is still part of your turnover.
A worked year, in roofers' numbers
A roofer took £84,000 in 2025 to 2026: four re-roofs, two flat roofs, a run of repairs and a contractor's job with £4,600 of CIS taken off. £41,000 went on tiles, battens, membrane, scaffold hire and a labourer. HMRC's figure is £84,000, and over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 meant a 6 April 2026 start.
- Invoiced, before expenses
- £84,000
- Materials, costs, subbies
- £41,000
- CIS taken off by contractors
- £4,600
- What reached the bank
- £79,400
- HMRC's figure
- £84,000
Making Tax Digital from 6 April 2027 at the latest
Over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means 6 April 2027. If it was over £50,000 in 2024 to 2025 as well, it should have started on 6 April 2026.
Need it? Sort it in two minutes.
InstaQuote, 7 days free, then from £47 a month only if you carry on. ANNA opens from inside it, free for your first year. About 2 minutes.
- InstaQuote does the quotes, the invoices and the chasing.
- ANNA is the MTD software your updates go to HMRC through, free for your first year.
- You do the job.
- Not sure where to start? Reply to your welcome email and I'll set it up with you.
- ANNA gives you a personal tax calendar with reminders, so no quarter slips past.
- Prefer your accountant? They can still do it, and your records are ready for them.
I'm Tom, the founder. Ten years in the trade, every quote done in the van. If it's not quicker than what you do now, bin it and tell me why.
AdInstaQuote: 7 days free, then from £47 a month only if you carry on. ANNA: £0 monthly fee to start, MTD for Self Assessment free for the first year, and a personal tax calendar with reminders (anna.money, 14 October 2026). InstaQuote may be paid by ANNA if you open an account through us. ANNA's terms apply.
CIS and roofers
Roofing is building work and repairs, so a builder or a roofing contractor paying you deducts 20% from the labour. Homeowners paying you for a re-roof, a flat roof or a repair don't. Your Making Tax Digital figure is every invoice in full, tiles and scaffold included.
The rate, from GOV.UK: 20% if you're registered for CIS, 30% if you're not, nothing if you have gross payment status. Whoever deducts must give you a statement, and that statement is your proof.
The records roofers lose
- Scaffold hire invoiced to you per job, paid late, and never matched to the roof it went on.
- The labourer you pay by the day: self-employed makes you a contractor under CIS for him, an employee is PAYE, and your accountant tells you which.
- Storm repairs at £150 cash, a dozen a winter, that never reach the books.
Every three months your software sends HMRC totals for each income and expense category, not the receipts themselves. The updates are due on 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and each one covers the tax year so far.
InstaQuote holds those quotes, invoices and expenses as you work, so they can go into your Making Tax Digital software as the digital records. It isn't that software itself. ANNA, our partner, is the software your updates and return go to HMRC through.
Questions roofers ask
Scaffold hire is a big cost. Does it reduce my turnover?
No, it's an expense. Turnover is counted before expenses, so a £9,000 re-roof is £9,000 of turnover even with £1,200 of scaffold inside it. The scaffold goes into your expense totals, which is what the quarterly update carries.
I pay a labourer cash in hand. Does Making Tax Digital see that?
It sees your expense totals. Paying a self-employed labourer for construction work makes you a contractor under CIS, with deductions and monthly returns to make; if he's really an employee it's PAYE instead, so ask your accountant which. Logging each payment keeps both your Making Tax Digital totals and your CIS position straight.
Does the scaffolder I hire get CIS deducted?
GOV.UK says scaffolding hire with no labour is outside CIS. If the scaffolder erects and strikes it, that's labour, and the usual rules apply. Either way their invoice is one of your expenses.
Do I still send a tax return, or do the quarterly updates replace it?
You still send a return, through your MTD software, by 31 January after the tax year. GOV.UK says the quarterly updates are category totals for the year so far; the return is where the year is finalised and your tax is worked out.
I'm a roofer and a landlord. Which figure does HMRC use?
Both added together. GOV.UK's qualifying income is self-employment and property income before expenses, and all your UK lets count as one property business. £26,000 of roofing and £7,000 of rent is £33,000, so April 2027.
Can my accountant sign me up?
Yes. GOV.UK says an agent can sign you up and act for you, provided you're registered for Self Assessment and sent a return in the last two years. For a roofer that means your re-roofs, repairs and scaffold bills recorded as digital entries, amount, date and category, which is what the app keeps.
Does InstaQuote file my Making Tax Digital updates?
No. InstaQuote holds the quotes, invoices and expenses so they can go into your Making Tax Digital software as the digital records; it isn't that software itself. ANNA, our partner, is the software your updates and return go to HMRC through, from the business account you open inside your InstaQuote account.
Checked against GOV.UK
- GOV.UK: Check if you're eligible for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 26 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Work out your qualifying income (updated 11 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Send quarterly updates (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Penalties for Income Tax Self Assessment volunteers (updated 12 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 30 March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (updated 13 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Create digital records (updated 7 September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Find software that's compatible (updated 13 July 2026)
- GOV.UK: Apply for an exemption (updated 17 August 2026)
- GOV.UK: CIS deductions from your payments (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: HMRC's Transformation Roadmap (no MTD for Corporation Tax) (updated 21 July 2025)
- GOV.UK: What is the Construction Industry Scheme (what counts as construction work) (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS subcontractor (deductions) (read 14 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS contractor (statements, monthly returns) (read 14 October 2026)
